Below is a list of bootstrapped B2B SaaS companies, how they landed their first customers, and how they scaled acqusition from there.

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Key Takeaways

Most Common First Customer Categories:

1. Network/Friends - Leveraged founder's personal/professional connections
2. Existing Customer Base - Migrated customers from previous companies
3. Direct Outreach - Cold calling/emailing prospects
4. Content Marketing - Technical articles that attracted customers

Most Common Scaling Categories:

1. Freemium - Free tier driving upgrades to paid
2. Product-Led Growth - Product experience drives expansion
3. Word-of-Mouth - Organic customer referrals
4. Content Marketing/SEO - Educational content and search optimization
5. Integration-Led Growth - Layering onto existing tool ecosystems

Food for Thought:

• "Internal Tool → External Product" is the most successful first customer pattern - founders solve their own problem first, validate it works, then commercialize